The present disclosure is related to the field of automotive accessories for carrying and transporting cargo. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to devices that can be removably mounted to automotive vehicles for the transport of auxiliary vehicles or cargo.
There are a wide variety of transportation devices available for use by people for recreation, transportation, or mobility. Such auxiliary transportation vehicles include, but are not limited to motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV), motorized wheelchairs, mobility scooters, mobility carriers, lawn mowers, lawn tractors, go karts, and the like. Often, these devices are designed to provide a specific transportation need within a localized area. Therefore, these devices must be transported, exemplary by automobile (e.g. car or truck) to the area in which the transportation device will be used. While some of these devices are small enough to fit within a truck, backseat, van interior, or truck bed, many of these are not.
Additionally, since these transport devices are typically wheeled vehicles and often heavy (e.g. up to 700 pounds) such devices are difficult to lift onto any elevated surface for transportation.
Various vehicle-mounted carrying racks have been devised to transport such transportation devices and other cargo. Some examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,841,821 entitled Tiltable Hauling Device, which is presently assigned to the Applicant. However, it has been recognized by the Applicant that further solutions are desired in this field to facilitate loading and unloading of the carrier rack as well as storage of the carrier rack when not in use.